When God is Silent

I believe in the sun, even when it isn’t shining,

I believe in love, even when I feel it not,

I believe in God, even when He is silent.

--writing on the wall in a Nazi concentration camp

My recent visit to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington coincided with my devotional readings on the scars of Christ that cited quotations related to the Holocaust (such as the one above). If you have been there, you know that it is a deeply moving experience, a witness to the growing persecution, ongoing enslavement, and ultimate execution of Jews and others--including Roma (Gypsies), homosexuals, and people who were less than “perfect.”

The museum is not only a testimony to history but a warning of what happens when we marginalize and depersonalize any human being. We would like to think that we know better now but daily news accounts force us to recognize the reality of indifference, prejudice, and hate.

When a police officer who also happens to be a pastor calls for the arrest and execution of LGBTQ people, we are reminded that, as Longfellow wrote, “Hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Although God may seem to be silent, God can still speak through women and men of good will. We are called to be the sentries on the wall and defenders of the marginalized.

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